


Dinner with the Dursleys

by ppyajunebug



Series: Tales from Surrey [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-06-14
Packaged: 2017-12-14 23:49:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/842853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ppyajunebug/pseuds/ppyajunebug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years after the fall of Voldemort, the Potter and the Dursleys meet for dinner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dinner with the Dursleys

Harry walked by the restaurant three times before he noticed it. It was a small, inconspicuous place shoved between a pharmacy and a discount furniture store. Entering, he breathed in the smell of frying oil and fresh fish. It had been years since he’d had fish and chips- it had turned up very occasionally on the Hogwarts dinner tables, but never really caught on with the wizarding population like it had with Muggles.

Glancing around quickly, it was not hard to spot the table where his dinner companions were sitting. Dudley was still large, blonde and vaguely porcine looking, although he looked less stupid than Harry had recalled from the last time they saw each other. His largeness was almost entirely due to muscle now, and Harry suddenly felt as skinny and awkward as he had as a teenager. Harry approached nervously.

“Dudley?” he said, halfway between a question and a declaration.

Dudley looked up and noticed him walk towards the table. He stood and offered his hand. Harry shook it firmly and gave a half-smile. He was glad to see that further time with Uncle Vernon hadn’t affected Dudley’s manners any more than they had at seventeen. Dudley remained standing as Harry pulled out a chair and gestured to the woman sitting beside him.

“Er, I don’t believe you’ve met my wife, Melanie. Mel, this is my, er, cousin Harry.”

Dudley’s wife was a good deal shorter than him, with wavy brown hair and a plain face. As they shook hands, there was something about her that put him at ease almost instantly, as if she radiated calm. Harry was not surprised to see her here, though the wedding invitation that had arrived in the mail two years ago had been a shock. He suddenly felt guilty for having missed the wedding, much as he could not regret avoiding another encounter with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.

A noise issued from a pram pulled up next to the table. Melanie quickly shifted her attention from Harry to the small baby making its discomfort known to the other patrons.

“My daughter, Margaret” Dudley said gruffly. Harry could detect a note of pride in his voice that made him smile genuinely for the first time.

“Ginny and the kids should be here soon. She needed to finish up a column while we waited for Angelina to come and watch Lily. She insisted I come ahead so you didn’t think we, uh, weren’t coming.” Harry trailed off at the end. Dudley nodded as Melanie scooped up the baby and held her to her shoulder.

A deafening silence fell over the table, broken only by the sounds of muffled conversation and hissing fryers. It had been ten years since Harry had seen Dudley, though they had exchanged Christmas notes since Dudley had gone to university. He struggled for a topic of conversation that didn’t have to do with the weather or the traffic winding its way down the street outside.

“Dudley mentioned your some sort of police officer?” Mel asked in a quiet voice. Jolted out of his mental search, Harry looked quickly to Dudley. He gave an almost imperceptible nod.

“Something like that, yeah. There are still a lot of nasty characters floating around here and there. Even though the war’s been over and done for ages, there always seems to be more clean-up to do.” Mel nodded.

“Dudley’s told me a bit about what happened, at least what he knew. I’d always remembered things were rather strange at the time, but I had dismissed it until I met Dudley. He’s been in touch with your Ministry, you know.”

At this, Harry nearly fell over. The idea of Vernon and Petunia’s son willingly being involved with anything to do with the Wizarding World was so bizarre as to be nearly unbelievable.

“Really?” he asked after he regained the power of speech. “What…what exactly have you been doing?” Dudley’s face was pink.

“I, uh. I’ve been doing work as a bodyguard. You know I was only really ever good at boxing and being, well, big. Somehow your Ministry heard about it and offered to find me a job within the government. So I sort of, you know, keep in touch between the two and make sure things are, smoothed over I suppose.” Dudley flushed a deep red.

Harry felt like his world had been knocked off its axis. In the years since he defeated Voldemort, it had never really occurred to him to see how the events of that year had affected his only remaining blood relatives. He was so flush with the fact that he had survived and had a future to look forward to that he had completely forgotten the past. It shocked him how glad he was that Dudley had taken what he had experienced as a child and used it not to resent his cousin’s world, but to participate in it.

“That’s brilliant Dudley,” he said hoarsely. Dudley gave him a disbelieving look. “No, it really is,” he reassured. “If you ever need support from the Aurors for anything, tell your contact to find me. I’d be really glad to help you out.”

The tension that had hung palpably in the air since Harry’s arrival snapped as a slow smile spread across Dudley’s face. The two cousins looked at each other. Harry suddenly felt grateful to have a blood relative of his own with whom he could meet for fish and chips.

The door to the shop swung open and a whirlwind of red and black hair swept into the tiny shop. The figures separated into Ginny clutching the back of James’ shirt with one hand and holding Al on her hip with the other.

“So sorry…we’re late…” she gasped. “Angelina….had some trouble….with the Floo…James…ran ahead.” At this, James broke free of his mother’s grasp and launched himself into Harry’s lap, knocking his glasses askew. Laughing, Harry turned him around to face the Dursleys.

“Son, this is your Uncle Dudley, Aunt Mel and cousin Margaret. I grew up with your Uncle Dudley.” James gave them each a solemn look in turn.

“Is it true you once stuck Dad’s head in a toilet?” he asked.

Dudley looked startled. “Uh…yes?” he answered. James grinned.

“COOL! Can you tell me how you did it? Fred has been driving me MAD and I want to get back at him!”

Dudley looked pleased as James chattered away about his rivalry with his cousin and his plans for revenge. Ginny sat down and began talking with Melanie about Margaret and Lily, comparing notes. Harry pulled James off his lap as he approached the counter to order them all dinner. Looking back, he was amazed to see a family sitting at the cramped table. His family.

He smiled. Wouldn’t Uncle Vernon love to see this?


End file.
